By Raiza Giorgi
publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com
The Nov. 6 election created many changes in the Santa Ynez Valley’s elected offices, starting with Solvang City Councilman Ryan Toussaint beating incumbent mayor Jim Richardson by a large margin, 60 percent to 40 percent.
“I am really thankful for all the residents that turned out to support me, and I have been overwhelmed with congratulations from people,” Toussaint said.
The morning after the election, he said, his phone had more than 500 messages.
“It will be an exciting time as the voters really spoke that they want new faces and perspective,” he added.
According to the county’s Nov. 9 election update, the Solvang City Council’s two four-year terms were going to Chris Djernaes with 24.1 percent of the vote and Robert Clarke with 24 percent. Appointed incumbent Karen Waite won a two-year seat with 56.6 percent of the vote over Ed Skytt.
Toussaint’s election as mayor leaves two years remaining on his council term. Filling vacancies became a heated issue recently when former councilman Hans Duus resigned his seat. Current protocol calls for the next highest vote-getter to be appointed to the position, which at press time was Joan Jamieson with 20.2 percent of the vote.
However, when Duus resigned, Toussaint and Councilman Ryan Zimmerman strongly opposed that protocol. Eventually, Waite was appointed.
As the new mayor, Toussaint said that he wants to work at making Solvang more business-friendly by updating policies to reflect a more modern strategy.
“We have new demographics of tourism, and are our businesses reflecting that? l also want to keep a closer eye on finances and keeping costs down. I think I am more focused on logistics,” Toussaint said.
Richardson couldn’t be reached for comment to reflect on his 10 years as mayor of Solvang.
In Buellton, the City Council race was won by Ed Andrisek, Dave King, Art Mercado and John Sanchez. Mayor Holly Sierra won unopposed.
In another change, the two seats for the Santa Ynez Community Services District (SYCSD) went to the challengers Robert D’Ambra and David Beard.
“I talked to Bob after the election and we are excited to let the public know what’s going on and start fresh in January. Until then, we will be at every meeting and researching all the current projects,” Beard said.
A controversy about inadequate notification of residents erupted in the spring of 2016 when SYCSD proposed to annex more than 400 acres and nearly 400 homes in western Santa Ynez.
Beard has said that a lack of agency transparency was the main reason he ran. He said his experience included not getting answers to questions, such as when he asked if the district was building a treatment plant and was told no, and then saw that the district recently released plans for a treatment plant.
“I’m all for a treatment plant if that is the best option for our district and the valley, but there has to be public input and knowledge before this gets started. I plan on starting many conversations with our neighboring districts,” Beard added.
In the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, Improvement District No. 1 (ID1) incumbents Brad Joos, Jeff Clay and Kevin Walsh defeated challengers Allen Anderson, Anita Finifrock and Brian Schultz.
For school board seats in the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District, the winners were incumbent Jan Clevenger and new members John Baeke and Tory Babcock.
Because Babcock had been appointed to a vacancy before the election, the school board will need to appoint someone else to that two-year vacancy.
“Once the vote count is official, Tory will resign her two-year position and then we have 40 days to complete the process. Applications will need to be submitted to my office with an interview process conducted by the board in public,” said District Superintendent Scott Cory.
Measure Y for Allan Hancock College failed, as did Measure A for the Buellton Union School District.
Solvang’s Measure F2018, allowing the city to tax cannabis businesses, passed with 80.3 percent of the vote.
Santa Barbara County set a voter-turnout record for a midterm election on Nov. 6. County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Joe Holland said some 155,000 people cast ballots, which was a 71 percent turnout. The previous high was set in 2010 when 134,000 people cast ballots, which was a 68 percent turnout.
In California, voters elected Gavin Newsom to replace outgoing governor Jerry Brown, and went to the polls in big numbers to block a rent control proposal, allow more space for farm animals, and block a repeal of a gas tax that went into effect more than a year ago.
Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina contributed to this story. He can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com.
